Venture capital firm Sequoia has long been the envy of its Silicon Valley peers, but has rarely had a week like this one.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/jim-cramer-reacts-to-unity-stock-market-debut-patience-is-a-virtue.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/cramers-week-ahead-the-market-will-go-lower-until-the-big-ipos-ease.html

The steep losses came as Apple’s recent product event — its first in 2020 — didn’t live up to the hype.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/trump-says-us-will-manufacture-enough-vaccine-doses-for-every-american-by-april.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/cdc-reverses-coronavirus-guidance-that-said-people-without-symptoms-may-not-need-a-test.html

Consultants allegedly bribed Amazon employees for privileged information on sellers’ competitors, giving them an unfair advantage.

Technology

Technology

Technology

Stocks ended lower Friday, pulling major benchmarks into negative territory for the third consecutive week as investors again dumped high-flying tech shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell around 245 points, or 0.9%, to end near 27,657, according to preliminary figures. The S&P 500 lost around 38 points, or 1.1%, to close near 3,319, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped around 117 points, or 1.1%, finishing near 10,793. For the week, the Dow fell less than 0.1%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each gave up 0.6%.

Shares of Unity, a video game software developer, jumped in its market debut Friday. 

President Donald Trump predicted Friday that the U.S. would make available to all Americans a coronavirus vaccine “by April.” That estimate is at odds with CDC Director Robert Redfield’s prediction Wednesday that a vaccine probably would not be widely available to Americans until the summer or fall of 2021. Trump has said the CDC chief was “confused.” Speaking at a White House news conference, Trump said distribution would begin within 24 hours of approval.

The Commerce Department announced it will ban U.S. business transactions with China-owned social apps WeChat and TikTok on Sunday.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/coronavirus-who-says-pandemic-is-killing-about-50000-people-a-week-that-is-not-where-we-want-to-be.html

The Invesco QQQ ETF , which tracks the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 index , dropped 1.4% in afternoon trading Friday, led lower by the extended pullbacks in the shares of mega-capitalization companies. The QQQs are now down 9.6% month to date, which puts it on track for the biggest monthly percentage decline since it dropped 11.5% in November 2008. Among the three most heavily weighted components of the QQQ, Apple Inc.’s stock has tumbled 16.5% this month, on track for the biggest monthly decline since it shed 18.4% in November 2018; Microsoft Corp. shares have slid 11.6% in September, which puts them in danger of the biggest monthly drop since it tumbled 13.0% in January 2015; and Amazon.com Inc.’s stock has sunk 14.8% in September to date, which puts it on track for the worst monthly performance since it fell 20.2% in October 2018. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is down 5.2% so far this month, and is headed for the biggest percentage decline since March 2020, when it slumped 12.5%.

U.S. stocks on Friday were seeing heavy selling pressure, led by declines in large-capitalization technology-related companies. The selling action managed to erase weekly gains for the Dow Jones Industrial Average , the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite . On the day, the Dow was off 1.2% at 27,570, the S&P 500 index was trading 1.5% lower at 3,307, well below its 50-day moving average at around 3,343.34, according to FactSet data. The Nasdaq was nearly 1.8% lower on the session at 10,711. For the week, the Dow was down 0.4% for the week, the S&P 500 was seeing a 1.1% weekly decline, while the Nasdaq was on track for a 1.4% weekly loss. A weekly decline would represent the longest such streak since three weekly declines ended Oct. 4 of 2019 for the Dow and the S&P 500. For the Nasdaq, would mark the longest weekly losing streak since the four-week stretch ended Aug. 23, 2019. However, some stocks were maintaining altitude in the market, including popular Tesla Inc. , which was up 3% despite the broad-market downturn.

U.S. oil futures settled with a modest gain on Friday, ending higher for the week after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies reiterated their commitment to output cuts. Prices for the U.S. benchmark, however, ended below the session’s highs, briefly turning lower for the session afterAljazeera reported that Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar announced a conditional lifting of a months-long blockage of oilfields and ports by the Libyan National Army. That fed expectations for higher global crude supplies. October West Texas Intermediate oil rose 14 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $41.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Front-month prices rose 10.1%, marking the strongest weekly rise since the week ended June 5, according to FactSet data.

The group also includes distinguished Google engineer David Patterson, Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull, Facebook’s chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun and Microsoft research scientists Leslie Lamport and Butler Lampson.

Gold futures rose Friday to tally a second consecutive weekly climb. “The fading optimism over a sharp V-shaped global recovery as new coronavirus cases picked up across the countries and sell-off in global equities has supported the yellow metal demand,” analysts at ICICI Bank wrote in a market update. December gold rose $12.20, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,962.10 an ounce with most-active futures prices up 0.7% up for the week.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/fires-in-california-oregon-and-washington-data-shows-blazes-getting-worse-.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/pandemic-fatigue-leads-to-resurgence-of-coronavirus-in-europe-where-france-and-spain-hit-records.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/who-says-parts-of-europe-reporting-worrying-rise-in-coronavirus-hospitalizations-.html

Shares of Compass Pathways PLC pointed north out of the gate, as the first trade was 37.6% above the initial public offering price. The U.K.-based mental health care company said Friday that it’s upsized IPO priced at $17 share, above the expected range of $14 to $16 a share. The stock’s first trade on the Nasdaq was at $23.40 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern for 277,349 shares. The company sold 7.5 million shares in the IPO, up from previous expectations of 6.7 million shares, to raise $127.5 million. The company was valued at about $578.1 million at the IPO price. The stock has added to gains since it opened, to trade up 44%. Compass’s bullish debut comes at the end of a busy week for IPOs, which was highlighted by Snowflake Inc.’s red-hot debut earlier this week. The Renaissance IPO ETF has rallied 20.1% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.8%.

Shares of Athira Pharma Inc. rallied in their public debut, as the first trade was 17.4% above the initial public offering price. The Seattle-based biopharmaceutical company’s upsized IPO priced late Thursday at $17 share, at the top of the expected range of $15 to $17 a share. The stock’s first trade on the Nasdaq was at $19.95 at 12.01 p.m. Eastern for 7,69,298 shares. The company sold 12 million shares in the IPO, up from previous expectations of 10 million shares, to raise $204 million. The company was valued at about $489.8 million at the IPO price. The stock has pulled back since it opened, to trade up just 1.6%. Athira’s public debut comes at the end of a busy week for IPOs, which was highlighted by Snowflake Inc.’s red-hot debut earlier this week. The Renaissance IPO ETF has rallied 20.1% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 7.3%.

Shares of Unity Sofware Inc. charged higher out of the gate Friday, as the first trade was 44% above the initial public offering price. The San Francisco-based videogames software company’s IPO priced late Thursday at $52 share, above the expected range of $44 to $48 a share, which was raised recently from $34 to $42 a share. The stock’s first trade on the NYSE was at $75.00 at 11:55 a.m. Eastern for 3.4 million shares. The company sold 25 million shares in the IPO to raise $1.3 billion. The company was valued at $13.7 billion at the IPO price. The stock has pared some gains since it opened, to trade up 42.6%. Unity’s public debut caps a busy week for IPOs, which was highlighted by Snowflake Inc.’s red-hot debut earlier this week. The Renaissance IPO ETF has rallied 20.0% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 7.4%.

That lofty valuation makes Chime the most valuable American fintech start-up serving retail consumers.

In Unity’s virtual IPO presentation on Friday, the CEO and CFO said employees are able to sell some shares on day one.

Inflation may be stronger in coming quarters than Wall Street now expects, said St. Louis Fed President James Bullard on Friday. “I actually think we’re at a moment where you may see some inflation now,” Bullard said, during a virtual discussion sponsored by the Boeing Center for Supply Chain Innovation at Washington University. The Fed has signaled that it would allow inflation to overshoot its 2% target for some time. The pledge has met with some skepticism on Wall Street because the central bank has failed to hit its 2% target in recent years. Bullard said there were several factors that could push the price level higher: a more relaxed Fed, huge fiscal deficits and possible bottleneck pressures given the 30% annual growth rate expected in the June-September quarter. “I actually think you may see more inflation than we have during the pre-pandemic era… when inflation was very subdued,” he said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/watch-live-the-world-health-organization-holds-a-press-briefing-on-the-coronavirus-pandemic.html

Unity Software Inc.’s stock is currently indicated to open on the NYSE at $65 to $67, according to data provided by FactSet. That would be 25.0% to 28.8% above the videogame software company’s $52 initial public offering price. The stock’s opening indication has climbed steadily, from an initial indication of $59 to $61. The company is going public Friday at a time the Renaissance IPO ETF is slipping 0.3% while the S&P 500 is easing 0.2%.

Shares of Vitru Ltd. limped out of the gate Friday, with the first trade 1.6% above the initial public offering price. The Brazil-based digital education company said Friday that its downsized IPO priced at $16 share, at the low end of the expected range of $16 to $18 a share, which was recently lowered from expectations of $22 to $24. The stock’s first trade on the Nasdaq was at $16.25 at 10:25 a.m. Eastern for 110,436 shares. The company sold 6 million shares in the IPO, which was lowered recently from 11.23 million shares, to raise $96 million. The company was valued at $368.9 million at the IPO price. The stock has pared some gains since it opened, to trade up just 0.7% at $16.11. Vitru’s public debut comes at the end of a busy week for IPOs, which was highlighted by Snowflake Inc.’s red-hot debut earlier this week. The Renaissance IPO ETF has rallied 20.4% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 7.7%.

Grenke shares edged up 1% Friday afternoon as the German leasing company was holding a conference call with analysts. Earlier, the company said it’s hired KPMG to conduct an audit, as the firm argues that the accounting irregularities charges made by short-seller Viceroy are incorrect. Grenke shares dropped 19% on Tuesday, dropped 40% on Wednesday, and rose 34% on Thursday.

Social media users are re-evaluating whether they should have accounts on platforms like Facebook and Instagram after a new documentary-drama called “The Social Dilemma” dropped on Netflix.

The leading economic index rose 1.2% in August, the Conference Board said Friday. This is a slower pace than the revised 2% rise in July and 3.1% gain in June. “The slowing of the improvement suggests that this summer’s economic rebound may be losing steam heading into the final stretch of 2020,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, director of business cycles research at the board. The LEI is a weighted gauge of 10 indicators designed to signal business-cycle peaks and valleys.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/nico-rosberg-asks-governments-to-up-their-game-on-climate-change.html

Compass Pathways PLC’s stock is set to debut Friday, after the U.K.-based mental health care company’s upsized initial public offering price at $17 a share, above the expected range of between $14 and $16 a share. The company sold 7.5 million American depositary shares (ADS) in the IPO, up from previous expectations of 6.7 million ADS, to raise $127.5 million. The pricing values the company at around $578.1 million. The stock is slated to start trading on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol “CMPS.” The company is looking to go public at a time that the Renaissance IPO ETF has rallied 20.5% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 7.7%.

Stocks opened mixed as traders braced for additional volatility in a week that’s already been bumpy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%, 22 points, to start trading near 27,880, while the S&P 500 was little-changed, opening near 3,360. The Nasdaq Composite was about 59 points higher, 0.5%, trading near 10,969. Friday marks quadruple witching, which refers to the day when various types of financial-asset options expire, traditionally leading to intraday volatility. Shares of United States Steel Corporation dipped despite reporting better-than-expected earnings.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/smart-cities-expert-stresses-the-importance-of-smart-mobility.html

Shares of U.S. Steel Corp. rallied 1.1% in premarket trading Friday, after the steel producer provided an upbeat third-quarter outlook, including a “significantly better” performance expected for its flat-rolled business and signs that the tubular business has bottomed. The company said it an adjusted per-share loss of $1.45, compared with the FactSet loss consensus of $1.52. “Improving market conditions experienced in June and July have accelerated through August and September,” said Chief Executive David Burritt. “We have grown confident in the recovery that is underway in North America and Europe,” he said. The stock has dropped 26.3% year to date through Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has slipped 2.2%.

The U.S. current-account deficit, a measure of the nation’s debt to other countries, widened sharply in the second quarter. The current-account deficit widened to $170 billion from a revised $111.5 billion in the first quarter. This is a 52.9% increase. The large widening reflected an expanded deficit of goods and reduced surpluses on primary income and on services, the government said. The current account reveals if a country is a net lender or debtor. The current account deficit was equal to 3.5% of GDP in the second quarter, up from 2.1% in the prior quarter. The current-account deficit peaked in 2005 at 6.3%.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-premarket-oracle-tesla-home-depot-beyond-meat-more.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/5-things-to-know-before-the-stock-market-opens-september-18-2020.html

Shares of Tesla Inc. surged 4.4% in premarket trading, extending earlier gains, after Piper Sandler analyst Alex Potter became the second-most bullish on the Street, citing a more upbeat outlook on Tesla Energy and Chief Executive Elon Musk’s stock-based compensation package. Potter raised his price target to $515 from $480, while reiterating the overweight rating he’s had on the stock for at least the past three years. Of the 37 analysts surveyed by FactSet, Potter is now just the third with a target of at least $500, behind the $800 target of Global Equities Research and just ahead of Jefferies’ Philippe Houchois’s $500 target. Potter said he now expects Tesla’s energy business to eventually exceed $200 billion a year in revenue. He also laid out his forecasts for stock-based compensation expenses, given concerns recently raised in a report in The Wall Street Journal that Musk’s stock options awards could cost the company from being included in the S&P 500 . “Importantly, the total expense associated with Musk’s plan is known (~$2.3B), so the main question regards the ‘timing’ of these expenses,” Potter wrote in a note to clients. Wedbush’s Dan Ives also raised his stock price target on Tesla on Friday, but kept his rating at neutral. The stock has soared 110.9% over the past three months through Thursday, while the S&P 500 has gained 7.8%.

The U.S. Commerce Department said Friday it is prohibiting transactions involving Tencent’s WeChat and Bytedance’s TikTok. “While the threats posed by WeChat and TikTok are not identical, they are similar. Each collects vast swaths of data from users, including network activity, location data, and browsing and search histories,” the release said. As of Sept. 20, any provision of service to distribute or maintain the WeChat or TikTok mobile applications, constituent code, or application updates through an online mobile application store in the U.S. is barred, as is any provision of services through the WeChat mobile application for the purpose of transferring funds or processing payments within the U.S. The order makes no mention of the Oracle deal with TikTok but said “the President has provided until November 12 for the national security concerns posed by TikTok to be resolved.”

Technology

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/markets-are-up-and-the-economy-is-down-some-next-moves-for-investors.html

Shares of Roche Holding AG gained 1.9% in premarket trading on Friday after the drug maker said hospitalized COVID-19 patients taking rheumatoid arthritis drug Actemra were less likely to need mechanical ventilation than those receiving placebo. The Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study focused on enrolling minority patients with COVID-19-related pneumonia; there are 389 participants enrolled in the trial. However, the drug did not lead to a difference in mortality, Roche said. Roche is also testing Actemra with Gilead Sciences Inc.’s remdesivir, which is the only new drug to receive an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration as a COVID-19 treatment during the pandemic. Earlier this week Eli Lilly & Co. and Incyte Corp. said their rheumatoid arthritis drug Olumiant when paired with remdesivir shortened recovery time for hospitalized coronavirus patients. Both findings, neither of which have been published yet in a peer-reviewed medical journal, for the first time in months point to a clinical benefit for rheumatoid arthritis drugs when treating some COVID-19 patients after a series of setbacks over the summer. Shares of Roche have gained 16.4% so far this year. Shares of Roche have gained 16.4% so far this year, while the S&P 500 is up 3.9%.

Oracle would own less than 20% of TikTok as the deal is structured now.

Technology

Vitru Ltd. said Friday that its initial public offering priced at $16 a share, at the low end of the expected range of between $16 and $18 a share. The Brazil-based digital education company raised $96 million as it sold 6 million shares in the IPO, which was lowered Thursday from 11.23 million shares. With 23.06 million shares outstanding after the IPO, the pricing values the company at $368.9 million. The stock is expected to start trading Friday on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol “VTRU.” The company is looking to go public at a time that the Renaissance IPO ETF has soared 58.5% year to date while the S&P 500 has gained 3.9%.

Technology

Technology

XL Fleet, a provider of electric vehicle technology, said Friday it has agreed to merge with Pivotal Investment Corporation II , a special purpose acquisition corporation, or SPAC, in a deal with a pro forma enterprise value of about $1 billion. A SPAC, or blank-check company, is one that goes public and then seeks to acquire a business or businesses. The new entity will be named XL Fleet and will remain listed on the New York Stock Exchange, under a new ticker, “XL.” XL’s customers include FedEx, The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Verizon, the City of Boston, Seattle Fire Department, Yale University, and Harvard University, among other blue-chip companies, municipalities, and institutions, the companies said in a joint statement. On close, the company expects to receive about $300 million of cash that will be used to expand, to develop new products and services, pay down or prepay debt and for general corporate purposes. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Pivotal shares were up 19% premarket.
.

Shares of NetEase Inc. surged 2.8% in premarket trading Friday, enough to pace all of the Nasdaq 100 early gainers, after the China-based internet technology company announced a ratio change for its U.S.-listed shares which effectively results in a 5-for-1 stock split. The company said each American depositary share (ADS) will represent five ordinary shares, effective Oct. 1, compared with the current ratio of one ADS for 25 ordinary shares. The ADS will start trading on a split adjusted basis on the Nasdaq exchange on Oct. 2. The stock closed Thursday at $470.01, which would be adjusted to $94.00 after the split. The stock has run up 53.3% year to date through Thursday, while the Nasdaq 100 has gained 6.0% and the S&P 500 has tacked on 3.9%.

Shares of Tesla Inc. rose 2.2% in premarket trading Friday, bouncing after a 5.9% drop over the past two days, after Wedbush analyst Dan Ives raised his price target to above current levels, citing signs of “robust and stronger-than-expected” demand in China. Ives raised his price target to $475, which is 12.2% above Thursday’s closing price of $423.43, from $380, while reiterating the neutral rating he’s had on the stock since April 2019. “The pent-up demand in the China EV market for Model 3’s and recent price cuts are catalyzing strong unit deliveries for Musk & Co. in this key market with increased market share vs. domestic competitors as the Giga 3 success story continues to play out,” Ives wrote in a note to clients. He said because Model 3s sold in China have incrementally higher margins compared with those sold in the U.S. and Europe, he believes the strength in China could increase Tesla’s profitability profile over the next few years. And for the much-anticipated Battery Day scheduled for Sept. 22, Ives said Chief Executive Elon Musk will announce a number of potential “game changing” battery developments. The stock’s selloff the past two days snapped a 5-day win streak in which the stock soared 36.2%, which in turn came after a five-day bear-market selloff in which the stock sank 33.7%. It has run up more than fivefold (406.1%) year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 3.9%.

Athira Pharma Inc. priced its initial public offering at $17 a share, the top end of its proposed price range. The company upsized the deal to 12 million shares from an original plan to offer 10 million shares, to raise $204 million. The stock will start trading on Nasdaq later Friday, under the ticker “ATHA.” Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Stifel were lead book runners on the deal with JMP Securities acting as co-manager. Proceeds will be used to finance clinical trials. “We are a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing small molecules to restore neuronal health and stop neurodegeneration,” the company says in its IPO prospectus.

The global tally for confirmed cases of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 climbed above 30 million on Friday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, while the death toll rose to 946,490. At least 20.5 million people have recovered. The U.S. has the highest tallies in the world with 6.7 million cases and 197,644 deaths. Brazil has the second highest death toll at 134,935 and third highest case tally at 4.5 million. India is third with 84,372 deaths and second with 5.2 million cases. Mexico is fourth with 72,179 deaths and seventh with 684,113 cases. The U.K. has 41,794 deaths and 384,087 cases, the highest death toll in Europe and fifth-highest in the world. Controversial coronavirus-testing guidelines posted on the CDC website that said asymptomatic people don’t need to get tested even if they have been exposed to the virus were not actually written by the CDC, the New York Times reported Thursday, and were posted over the objections of CDC scientists.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/billionaires-urged-to-combat-world-hunger-by-un-food-chief-do-the-right-thing.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/top-glove-sees-strong-growth-ahead-covid-19-sparks-global-demand-surge.html

Infineon is one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world and is a top player in automotive, power and security chips.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/countries-that-gives-visas-to-remote-workers-during-covid-19-pandemic.html

Controversial coronavirus-testing guidelines posted on the CDC website that said asymptomatic people don’t need to get tested even if they have been exposed to the virus were not actually written by the CDC, the New York Times reported Thursday, and were posted over the objections of CDC scientists. Citing internal documents and sources familiar with the matter, the Times said the Department of Health and Human Services rewrote the testing guidelines in late August and “dropped” them into the CDC’s website without proper vetting. The recommendation contained numerous errors, the Times reported, and was inconsistent with the CDC’s messaging, especially as asymptomatic people are considered major vectors of COVID-19’s spread. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quickly walked back the new guidelines after an uproar. A new version of testing guidelines is expected to be announced Friday, the Times said, which also has been revised by the HHS and has apparently not been properly vetted. The incident appears to be yet another instance of the politicalization of an historically apolitical agency, which threatens to undermine its credibility during the worst pandemic in a century.